


Just Drive

by TheMomeRath



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Drinking, M/M, Mild Language, San Francisco, Strangers to Lovers, Taxis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 15:45:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13321371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMomeRath/pseuds/TheMomeRath
Summary: Keith's had a lot of strange experiences driving his cab, but this? This really takes the cake.





	Just Drive

As soon as the car door closed behind the three club-bound drunks, Keith leaned back in the driver’s seat and let out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes in the welcome quiet.  _ Fuck. _

Nights like these were always exceptionally excruciating. Passenger after passenger, everybody was drunk, and they were always so fucking  _ loud _ . At least they didn’t really demand very much conversation from him. He had a hard enough time trying to follow drunk logic when he wasn’t required to think of his own responses. Not to mention, he’d already been driving for hours by the time people started acting like this, so his patience was always running thin.

The sound of a notification chirping from his phone, sitting in its holster on the center console, snapped him to attention. 

“Just a few more rides and I can be done for the night,” he reminded himself, shifting his sedan into gear. He checked over his shoulder briefly, then pulled out back into the driving lane from the spot where he had briefly parked. He quickly tapped to accept his passenger and began following the highlighted route on his screen.

Driving alone wasn’t really all that much more calming than driving elsewhere, not in SF. The drivers didn’t seem to have any idea of the reason laws existed on the road. 

Keith was used to it, though. After a few years driving in the city, he knew how to get around quickly, which was evidenced as he pulled up at the curb along Mission Street. 

“You got here fast,” his new passenger said as he slid across the back seat, making room for the girl who was with him. 

“I try.” He checked his phone screen. “Lance plus one, right?”

“That’s us.” The guy grinned and slung his arm around the girl. “Going to Castro.”

_ Great _ . Keith tapped the screen again, acknowledging that he had, in fact, picked up his passenger and that he was, in fact, headed back to the exact same place he had just come from. Not like he hadn’t known that when he accepted the drive, he just… forgot.

The pair in the backseat seemed to be very invested in each other, to say the least. Keith glanced in his rearview mirror as he pulled out onto the street again.  _ Or maybe it’s just him _ . Lance was definitely eager to be affectionate with the girl, who was definitely not annoyed with him, but who also definitely not nearly as eager to be cuddling as he was. 

Keith did what he did best and just kept driving.

Well, at least, he tried to, but as they drove across San Francisco, he progressively found it harder and harder to ignore the bizarre mix of sounds coming from the backseat. What at first had been some rather heavy kissing noises disappeared rather quickly into muffled conversation, and as they neared the Castro, that muffled conversation grew in volume more and more until Keith really couldn’t pretend he was no longer concerned. 

“Yo, y’all doing okay back there?” he asked, glancing in the rearview mirror. 

“Fuck no,” the girl shot back, voice raised. “I want out.”

“What, you mean right now?” Keith raised both eyebrows. “I can’t refund the ride or anything —”

“He’s paying.”

Lance objected. “Aw, come on, I didn’t realize—”

“You didn’t think at  _ all _ .” The girl leaned forward over the center console. “Can you just pull over?”

Keith listened obediently and slowed to park at the curb in the next open space, and the girl immediately jumped out of the car, much to several objections from the guy who had been with her, but she must not have cared, as she slammed the door in his face, barely missing his head in the process. He leaned back across the seat and collapsed against the back, letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Tough luck, huh?” Keith did his best to lighten the mood, and the guy responded by rolling his eyes. 

“Fuckin rough as shit,” he said, brushing his fingers through his short hair, then leaning forward into the back of Keith’s seat. “I didn’t think she was going to react that much to a joke.”

“Ah.” Keith hesitated, watching passing cars to make sure there weren’t any police nearby. He didn’t want to get a parking ticket for such a brief stop. “I didn’t hear the joke, but I’m assuming she didn’t get it.”

“I mean—” Lance started, then paused again, inhaling dramatically. “It was sort of a joke? Nothing too bad? Almost a suggestion? I guess?” Every phrase was characterized by a slight upward lilt in his voice, as if he was still trying to convince himself it was a joke. “I mean, not a serious one. But. IDK?” Keith was having a hard enough time processing that the guy had actually said “I dee kay” out loud when the guy decided it was a good time to explain his joke. “I sort of implied that since we were going to the castro maybe we could pick up a guy and have him join us for the night or something. Like, nothing serious, but. She must not have liked that.”

“Oh.” Usually his passengers didn’t say that out loud knowing he was listening. “That’s… too bad?”

“I mean, I guess it’s her loss.” The guy laughed bitterly. “I’d have let her pick, too.” Leaning back in his seat again, the guy let a burst of air through his mouth, puffing out his cheeks. “Well, I guess my plans have changed.”

“I can still take you to Castro if you want…?”

Lance shook his head. “Nah, If anything, that’s a sign I’m done for the night. That kind of rejection is always a shitty thing to face before you hit the clubs.” He paused. “But you could take me to a gas station to buy a drink or something, so I don’t show up at home completely sober.”

“Done deal.” Keith shifted his car into drive and pulled away from the curb. “There should be some liquor stores just a couple blocks away from where you were going in the first place.” Keith glanced at his clock.  _ Two more rides left… _ “You know, I could just take you somewhere to chill after you get your drinks. I’m done for the night, anyway.”

“Really?” The voice from the backseat sounded relieved. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I can pay you for a ride to the next place. I don’t want to inconvenience—”

Keith shook his head, cutting Lance’s apology short. “It’s fine. I can just drive you closer to where you live if you give some directions.”  _ I hope that doesn’t sound creepy _ . 

It probably didn’t register as creepy mostly because the guy was already at least one drink in, judging by his behavior earlier. Not that he hadn’t sobered up quite a bit from the interaction earlier, Keith realized as he carefully merged. 

They weren’t too far from the station he’d mentioned, so he spent the couple minutes that Lance was in the store trying to think of a place to drop the guy off at. Eventually he settled on Mission Dolores Park, since there was bound to be some parking there that he could stay around until he decided to head home. 

On the way there, though, he realized that he hadn’t heard much from the backseat after the guy had returned to the car, and glanced into the rearview mirror to see Lance with his head in his hands.

“You doing okay?”

He barely registered the guy’s shaking head under the intermittent streetlights, but he could see the gentle heaving of his shoulders. “Hey, if you don’t feel good, I’m… Uh. I can try to talk.” He made a right turn, looking over his shoulder partway into it to try to get a better view of the back seat to make sure his passenger hadn’t passed out or something. “We can walk around the park. Or something.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’ll have to find a parking spot, but we can stay in there for a while. I don’t feel like you should really be alone right now.”

Lance smiled, sniffling quickly. “You know, I’m pretty sure this is how horror movies start. When a taxi driver offers to spend extra time with the passenger.”

Keith snorted. “Yeah, well, if I was planning on killing you, I’d have probably found a better way of doing it.”  _ What the fuck are you doing, Keith?  _ HE _ could be the murderer, and you’re here… making jokes about murder! _ “But I’m not a murderer. Just so you know.”

“Sure, I  _ totally _ believe you now.” The guy unclicked his seatbelt. “But if you do kill me, there is official record that you were driving me right before I disappeared.” Somehow, he had completely disguised the hint of crying that had been in his voice just moments earlier, and Keith marveled as they left his car and walked across the grass at just how quickly he’d been able to flip the switch from despondent to sociable.

They eventually settled on sitting on the slightly damp grass, and Lance quickly brought the bottle of whatever drink he’d gotten from the gas station out from under his arm. At first, Keith had been hesitant to drink any, but eventually he decided that if he drank any, he’d just sleep in his car. He had all night parking, anyway, and nowhere to be the next day.

They lay in the grass for a long while. Before long, the red bottle was completely empty, they were both lying flat on the grass next to each other, and Lance was eagerly spilling out every detail about how he’d met the girl from earlier less than four hours before he got in the car with her. 

“She was a friend of my friend’s, and my friend thought we’d get along, but she was—” He gestured vaguely toward the sky with an outstretched arm— “weird.”

“She didn’t seem eager to be hanging around at first,” Keith offered, immediately regretting it when he felt Lance elbow him gently. 

“She was much more into it before I mentioned the Castro, but I think the super gay vibe set her off a bit.” He laughed. “And then when I said something about bringing another guy home with us, she flipped out. I guess she was just here for my dick as long as I only wanted some V.”

Keith cringed. “Sounds shitty.”

“You say that a lot.”

“Lots of stuff sounds shitty.” He shrugged. “I guess you aren’t missing out on much, though, if she was just gonna freak out about something like that later.”

“God, though,  _ nobody _ freaks out about gay people. It’s San Francisco, for fuck’s sake. The gay fucking capital of the West Coast, or whatever.”

“You’d be surprised at the kind of dumbasses that manage to make it out here and still be assholes.” 

“I guess.”

The clouds were a little too think on that night to see any stars, and even if the clouds had been gone, it would have been impossible to see the sky clearly from all the lights in the city, but it was surprisingly serene to stare up at the passing dark grey textures in the sky above. Not only that, Keith realized, but suddenly all of his inability to speak to his passengers during his drives had completely disappeared with this crying stranger who was casually sharing surprisingly intimate details about his life with him. And Keith was sharing back. Maybe not the full extent of how much Lance was sharing, but… it felt surprisingly natural, laying there in the park. Laughing at some of the absolutely ridiculous shit that poured out of Lance’s mouth felt absolutely perfect. 

Some of the stories Lance told him weren’t exactly innocent. Talking about some of the hookups in Lance’s past and feeling his chest grow tight with excitement, Keith was immensely grateful that he was wearing tight underwear. Not that he thought Lance was really watching, but… he just really didn’t need that embarrassment. 

It was also a surprise to note that, after half a bottle of whatever the red liquor was that Lance had bought, it was very easy to lose track of time. 

“Shit, It’s been almost three hours since we got here,” Keith said after glancing at his phone. “The park is definitely supposed to be closed by now.”

Lance sat bolt upright. “Is that why I saw that police car driving around a couple minutes ago?”

Keith followed suit, scanning the street closest to them, and sure enough he only took a moment to spot a Police cruiser parked just a block down from where the pair were laying. 

“ _ Shit. _ ” He stood immediately. “We’re getting the  _ fuck _ out of here.”

“What, he’s not gonna arrest us for being in a park on a Friday night?”

Keith helped him to his feet. “I have no desire to find out, so we’re leaving now.” As soon as Lance was on his feet, Keith bolted opposite the direction of the police cruiser, sprinting as fast as he could, and while he was definitely drunk (much more than he had guessed he was when he was sitting down), he was still very capable of sprinting.

* * *

 

Lance’s objections behind him didn’t really slow him until he’d reached the edge of the park, at which point he only stopped long enough for him to catch up before resuming running once again away from the park.

_ Damn, I’m out of shape _ , he thought, feeling his lungs start to burn after a couple blocks.  _ Though I guess I never was one for sprinting. _

It took another two blocks before he finally found himself unable to go any further, and he doubled over on the sidewalk, grasping his knees for support and breathing heavily. 

“Are we—” he exhaled heavily. “Are we good now?”

“I don’t know,” Lance breathed back, leaning against a telephone pole for support. “Fuck, I might puke.”

“Jesus.” Keith heaved with breathless laughter. “I didn’t think I was gonna be running races tonight.”

“You probably didn’t think you were going to run from the police, either, huh?”

Keith shook his head, squinting down at the grass growing between the cracks in the sidewalk, lit orange with the dimly glowing streetlamps. 

They stood for a moment, catching their breath. Blocks away, they could hear the sounds of the city— the rush of vehicles down one-way streets paired with the distant sounds of occasional laughter from partygoers. Well past midnight, there were so many parts of San Francisco that remained bright and alive. Somehow, everyone still had the energy, or passion, or whatever it was, that allowed them to continue flying high all the way up until sunrise. 

“So, about that part where it’s 2am and we’re, like, a mile from my car at least.” Finally feeling the burning in his lungs disappear, Keith stood from his bent position slowly. “If you’re looking to get a ride home, we’re gonna have to walk a ways if you want to get anywhere—”

“We’re actually close to my house,” Lance interrupted. “I don’t need a ride.”

“Oh.” Keith felt himself burn a little in resentment. “So, how close, exactly?”

Lance gestured over his shoulder. “About a block south.” He grinned. “Sorry, I could have told you we were headed this way.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Maybe it was the fact that the adrenalin had died down to be replaced by the drunk feeling again, but Keith definitely felt himself on the edge of irritation. 

Lance must have noticed, because he suddenly began to toe the sidewalk sheepishly. “I mean, you’re welcome to come over too. I know you’re kinda stuck driving otherwise…”

Wait, really?” _ Shit, is this even okay? _

Lance glanced up at him. “Well, yeah, it was a bit overwhelming.”

“No, not that.” Keith shook his head. “Inviting me over.”

“If you want to.”

His mind flashing back to the image of Lance leaning over the lap of the girl in the back of his car, Keith immediately recognized that he _ wanted  _ to spend the night with Lance. Hell, he was inclined to do more than just spend the night, judging by the very physical reaction he’d had to imaging some of the situations they’d been talking about in the park. Maybe it was a shitty idea, but honestly, he didn’t go along with shitty ideas nearly often enough. “Sure, lead the way.”

Lance beamed. “Shit, really?”

“Well, yeah, but do it while I’m still drunk and think it’s a good idea.”

Lance stepped toward him and looped their arms together. “You’re not gonna regret it, I promise.” He hesitated. “Well, I mean, I really hope not.”

Keith immediately recognized that there was a nonzero change he was going to regret  _ some _ part of this, but he followed Lance anyway in the short distance to his surprisingly and suddenly perky cab passenger. 

He didn’t have very much time to really doubt his decision, though, because before long, Lance was fumbling with his keys in the dimly lit entrance to his house. “Sorry, we’re going to have to be a little quiet until we get downstairs,” he mumbled, stabbing at the door handle with the key. “Mom and my sisters are home and really don’t want to be woken up.”

_ Sisters? _

Judging by the shoes in the entryway, there were at least three of them. Keith kicked off his own shoes, leaving them next to a very small pair with purple dinosaurs on them “That’s cute _ ,”  _ he whispered before Lance tugged him down the staircase after him. After gingerly stepping his way down the stairs, he quickly stepped over to flop backwards onto what he assumed was Lance’s futon. He had been lying there for only a few seconds when he saw light flash on the other side of his eyelids. “Shit, are you taking photos?” He sat up quickly.

Lance was sitting next to him, grinning with a game controller in his hand. “No, but I definitely should have been.” He shot Keith a smirk. “I was figuring we could watch a movie or something, if you want.”

Keith slid backwards on the futon until his back hit a cushion that rested against the wall. “You already know I’m not gonna say no. I’m in a stranger’s house, and I didn’t even object when you got me drunk and led me into your basement.”

“Okay, but to be fair, you’re not really drunk anymore.” Lance slid off the futon and quickly got up to close the door to the basement. “We can fix that, though.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

* * *

 

Keith wasn’t really aware of most of the movie Lance had chosen. He’d seen it before, but he really didn’t care, because he’d enjoyed it the first time through, and he honestly felt more comfortable just absorbing the new atmosphere. Not that he could have really paid attention, anyway, though— Lance got super into the movie, squeezing Keith’s knee when they got to intense parts and rocking his shoulder into him when things got exciting. Keith had to consciously fight from reacting. Maybe he wasn’t drunk, but he was just intoxicated enough to make bad choices at the same time as being aware the was making them.

Though he didn’t really fight as Lance slid up close to him on the futon, and he  _ definitely  _ didn’t fight as Lance put his arm over his shoulder. The other boy was warm, and in the cold basement, he wasn’t really going to fight the offer of heat. 

Once the movie finished, Lance stood to go change out the disc, and Keith drew his knees up to his chest. When Lance turned again, he laughed. “If you’re that cold, we can use the blankets, you know.” 

“Oh.” Keith looked around him. “Where are they?”

“Right here.” Lance crawled up onto the mattress, arms on either side of Keith. 

_ Shit he’s making a move I need to do something what the fuck do I do _ — He responded to Lance’s closeness by wrapping his arms around the other boy and leaning back, but froze when he realized Lance had stopped. 

“I mean, you don’t really have to stop, but I was reaching around you because you’re sitting on the blanket.”

“Oh.”  _ Fuck. _ “Sorry.” He lifted himself up slightly, bringing his waist dangerously close to Lance’s chest as Lance pulled a comforter out from underneath him. It definitely wasn’t his imagination that Lance lingered above him for just a little longer than necessary. In fact, Keith felt Lance’s breath against his chin, and he felt his heart quicken. 

“Maybe I could use another drink before we start this movie,” he whispered, to which Lance replied by blinking and backing away. 

“Sure thing.” He backed up and reached for the bottle that he had set on the side table. “There’s not much left,” he said, swishing it around. “That okay?”

“We can split the rest,” Keith replied, and watched as Lance nodded and took a swig from the bottle.

He knew they’d been sharing the bottle in the park, but suddenly he was much more conscious of the way those lips that he had seen so closely a few moments ago curled around the ridge of the bottle, and he became acutely aware of watching Lance’s throat move as he swallowed. 

They’d at least been paying some attention to the first movie, but Keith knew as soon as his fingers brushed against Lance’s thigh that the second was simply playing as background. When Lance set his hand on Keith’s, their eyes didn’t even pass in the direction of the television again.

As soon as Lance’s mouth pressed against his, he knew he’d made the right choice in agreeing to come in. Their heavy breaths mingled between their open mouths, lips opening and closing against each other’s, eyes shut in absolute bliss.

Keith felt his heart pounding in his ears, in his throat, in his hips, and in every bit of skin that Lance touched. And Lance touched  _ so _ much of him. And it all felt perfect. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. I haven't written much for Klance before, but I'm glad to have finished this one finally. 
> 
> (I edited this drunk, so feel free to point out any errors you see.)


End file.
